Tips for buying Ultrasound, Portable

The anatomic data provided by
ultrasound scans make diagnoses of diseases, cysts, and tumors (size,
texture, and location). General-purpose use for imaging the abdomen and
small parts is one of the oldest and most common ultrasound procedures.

To evaluate abdominal organs
and allow further diagnosis by providing information on blood flow,
basic Doppler capabilities are used.

Specialized high frequency,
small parts probes are used in some general-purpose portable ultrasound scanners
for evaluating thyroid, breast, scrotum, neonatal brain, and
musculoskeletal. Some general-purpose portable ultrasound scanners are
equipped with endocavity transducers for prostate screening.

A hospital's radiology
department or imaging center will usually use a full-featured portable
ultrasonic scanner system, which is required by general-purpose abdomen
and small parts studies.

A portable ultrasound scanner
system containing only basic features can perform limited abdominal
studies, which may permit detection of abdominal trauma, fluid
collections, gallstones, and aortic aneurysms.

Assessment of the structure
and function of the heart and great vessels is done by comprehensive
cardiac ultrasonography, or echocardiography. The cardiac ultrasound can
call on the full range of a portable ultrasound scanner's Doppler
capabilities.

Portable ultrasound scanners
can be transported from the hospital's cardiology department to the
bedside, intensive care unit critical care unit, catheterization lab, or
an off-site clinic.

The clinician can get flow
profiles of vessels throughout the body to diagnose arterial and venous
abnormalities and their causes using a comprehensive vascular study.
Doppler further extends vascular techniques by providing flow detection in
vessels, such as those found in organs and tumors in extremities.

Calculations can be made
automatically by some spectral Doppler analysis packages. A full-featured portable
ultrasound system is required by a comprehensive vascular study, which is
usually conducted in a hospital's radiology department, cardiology
department, vascular lab, or vascular surgeon's office.

Most of the vascular studies
are performed within the lab of the responsible hospital department.
However, many routine studies are performed at the patient's bedside,
using a portable ultrasound, or in the ICU or emergency department.

There are many frequently
performed vascular studies included in the limited vascular studies in
which the used imaging and Doppler modes, number of measurements made, and
required documentation are substantially limited.

One of the applications is
vascular access guidance, which includes ultrasonic guidance for vascular
surgical procedures, catheter insertions, peripherally inserted central
catheter line placements, and biopsies.

Comprehensive OB/GYN studies
use ultrasonography to investigate many gynecologic abnormalities,
including infertility, and detection of various conditions of the
fetus throughout pregnancy.

Some invasive procedures, including
guiding amniocentesis, use ultrasonography as well.
OB
analysis packages provide a variety of commonly used gestational age,
fetal weight, and fetal growth calculation methods, and some can also
generate reports.

To carry out comprehensive
OB/GYN studies, facilities need a full-featured portable ultrasound system.
This is typically the situation in a hospital's radiology department,
OB/GYN department, imaging center, or even in an OB/GYN office that
performs comprehensive obstetrical ultrasound examinations.

Some functions can be carried
out by limited OB/GYN studies. They may determine the presence, position,
and viability of a fetus along with gestational-age verification. It is
also possible to determine amniotic fluid levels, pelvic morphology, and
detect ectopic pregnancy.

Limited OB/GYN studies are
usually performed by personnel in a hospital's labor and delivery or
emergency departments.